EASY Resizing Photoshop Trick! [Hidden Crop Feature]
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The fastest way to match image size in Photoshop is a hidden Crop Tool command called Front Image.
Front Image reads the width, height and resolution of the document in front of you and loads those values into the Crop Tool. You then crop a second image, and it comes out at exactly the same size.
It is for anyone who needs two photos to agree, such as a before and after pair or a set of product shots.
By the end, you will be able to make any open image match another one’s pixel dimensions and resolution without typing a single number.
The video was recorded in Photoshop CC 2019, and Front Image works the same way in the latest version of Photoshop.
Key Takeaways
- Front Image lives in the preset drop-down menu at the left of the Crop Tool options bar. It copies the size and resolution of the active document onto the tool.
- Run it on the image you want to copy, not on the image you want to change. That order is what trips most people up.
- However large or small you drag the crop box, the result is always the same pixel dimensions and resolution.
- Photoshop resamples the cropped area to hit the target, so a crop drawn much smaller than the target gets enlarged and loses sharpness.
Table of contents
- What You Will Learn
- Requirements
- Step 1: Open Both Images
- Step 2: Select the Crop Tool on the Target Image
- Step 3: Copy the Size With Front Image
- Step 4: Crop the Second Image to Match
- Why the Crop Tool Can Match Image Size in Photoshop
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Match Image Size in Photoshop in Seconds
- Related Links
What You Will Learn
- How to copy one document’s dimensions and resolution onto the Crop Tool
- How to crop a second image so it matches the first exactly
- Why the crop always lands at the same size no matter how you drag it
Requirements
Before you start
- Photoshop CC 2019 or the latest version of Photoshop
- Two open images: the one whose size you want to copy, and the one you want to change
Step 1: Open Both Images
Open the two documents in Photoshop.
In the video, the first image is 720 pixels wide by 1280 pixels tall at a resolution of 72. The second is 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels tall at a resolution of 300.
The first image is the target. The goal is to make the second image exactly the same size and resolution as the first.
Step 2: Select the Crop Tool on the Target Image
Click the tab of the target image, the one whose dimensions and resolution you want to use.
Then select the Crop Tool from the Toolbar.
Look at the Options bar across the top of the screen. At its left end is a drop-down menu that holds the crop presets.
Warning: Front Image copies whatever document is in front when you click it. If the wrong tab is active, the Crop Tool picks up the wrong size.
Step 3: Copy the Size With Front Image
Open that drop-down menu and choose Front Image.
Photoshop reads the width, height and resolution of the current photo and writes them into the fields next to the menu. In the video, the Options bar now shows 720 by 1280 at a resolution of 72.
Step 4: Crop the Second Image to Match
Click the tab of the image you want to resize. The Crop Tool is still active and still loaded with the target’s values.
A crop box appears over the photo, locked to the target’s shape. Click and drag the corner handles to choose which part of the image you want to keep.
Commit the crop. The image is now the same size and resolution as the original: 720 by 1280 at a resolution of 72, an exact match.
Note: The values stay in the Options bar after the crop. Click Clear to empty them before a normal crop, or the next image you crop will be forced to the same size too.
Why the Crop Tool Can Match Image Size in Photoshop
On its own, the Crop Tool only removes pixels. Once a width, height and resolution are set in its Options bar, it also resamples the area you drew to that exact pixel count.
That is why the size of your crop box does not matter. Drag a huge box and Photoshop scales the area down. Drag a tiny box and Photoshop scales it up. Either way, you get the dimensions and resolution you set with Front Image.
Tip: Scaling up invents pixels, so a crop drawn much smaller than the target comes out softer. Keep the crop box as large as the composition allows.
The crop box also stays locked to the target’s aspect ratio. In the video, a tall 720 by 1280 target is applied to a wide 1920 by 1080 photo, so the sides of the wide photo are cut away.
If you need the whole photo to fit a new shape instead, see how to resize an image without stretching it in Photoshop.
Front Image is one specific job for the Crop Tool: matching one image’s size to another. For cropping in general, including straightening a photo and filling its empty corners, see the Content-Aware Crop tutorial.
Frequently Asked Questions
Open both images and click the tab of the one you want to copy. Select the Crop Tool and choose Front Image from the preset menu. Switch to the other image, drag the crop box, and commit the crop. The result matches the first image in size and resolution.
Yes. Front Image copies width, height and resolution together. In the video, an image at a resolution of 300 is cropped to match a target at a resolution of 72, and the result carries the target’s resolution.
Because a width, height and resolution are set in the Crop Tool options. Photoshop resamples whatever is inside the box to hit those values. The box only decides which part of the photo you keep, not the output size.
Image Size resizes the whole document, and you type the values by hand. Front Image feeds another document’s values into the Crop Tool, so you also choose which part of the photo to keep and never type a number. Both can make two images the same size.
Match Image Size in Photoshop in Seconds
Front Image turns a two-dialog job into a couple of clicks. Copy the size from one image, crop the other, and both match to the pixel.
Watch the video above to see it in real time, then comment on the video if this feature was new to you or if you were using it already.
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